


You're Welcome Any Day

by Blink23



Series: Blue is the Color [2]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, Men's Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Football, Chelsea FC, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-31 07:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18586696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blink23/pseuds/Blink23
Summary: Ben meets Freddie (no, not that one) and might be a little bit in love.





	You're Welcome Any Day

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should be writing one of the two final chapters of the actual fic this is based on but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> I know I'm really playing fast and loose with both how cancer treatment works and adoption in the UK (which I know nothing about tbh) but this is fiction, sooooo...
> 
> The guys really do visit Chelsea and Westminster hospital every year; you can google for the adorable pictures that are too numerous to link.
> 
> Title is another line from Blue is the Color.

Ben had gone with half the team to visit Chelsea and Westminster Hospital around Christmas; it was tradition, and Ben loved being around all those kids. It was something to know that he could make a kids day by sitting with them for only a few minutes, coloring or talking about Frankie or football. After the insanity of the last eight or so months of his life since coming out, it was nice to be surrounded by people who didn't want anything more than that.

They’re all having fun, giggling and handing out gifts and taking pictures, until the father of the little girl they're supposed to be visiting next blocks the door as Ben was about to enter after his teammates.

“Not him,” he spat, and Ben rolls his eyes. He was well used to people’s homophobia, especially when it came to him around kids, either thinking he was a pedophile or gay was contagious. It had only gotten worse when he married Gwilym.

David and Ruben on the other hand look taken aback; David especially seeming shocked someone would be so bold.

“He’s-”

“It’s fine." 

David scoffs, "Ben-" 

Ben shrugs, "Some people are just stupid, David. It's alright.”

The father sputters, trying to come up with a retort. Ben leaves the room before he can, asking the stout Scottish nurse showing them around if she could point him onto the next set of kids. She led him to the Infant and Toddler’s ward, spewing apologies as she went. Gary and Gonzalo are already there, but instead of entering the room they're in she takes him down the hall.

“This one doesn’t have a family, so you won’t have to deal with anything but a one year old.”

“No family?”

“No, poor dear’s Mummy was only fourteen and gave him up. He’s here full time until he’s in remission, then they’ll try to find a family to foster and adopt him.”

A big, happy looking Peppa Pig held up a sign spelling out FREDDIE in stickers on the door she stops in front of, and she shoulders it open.

“Freddie?” 

“Yeah, like Mercury? You know?” the older woman had raised her eyebrows, “You can’t be that young. They just made a movie about him year or two ago.”

Ben tried not to think about the fact that Brian and Anita had come around for dinner at theirs the previous week. “Yeah, I know.”

Freddie was a happy, smiling baby, with a head full of dark curls despite the chemo. He had sat on Ben’s lap, playing with one of the toys the team had brought to hand out, while she explained about his treatment, and how long he had been there. They didn’t know much about him or his mother, except that her family was from Romania and she hadn't been able to emotionally deal with a a baby being that sick when she was so young. Ben understood but felt awful.

He sits with Freddie the rest of the afternoon, playing and reading books, only interrupted when Gonzalo comes to tell him they're all packing it in. Ben had put him back in his crib, mindful of his feeding tube, before pausing to pet the top of his head. 

“Can I… I mean, it wouldn’t be weird if I popped around to see him and the kids, would it?”

The nurse smiled at him in that starry eyed way women did when he talked about Gwilym, like he was doing something endearing by just existing.

“Of course, Pet. They'd probably love it.”

Ben came back twice, before Christmas; The first time Freddie had lied sprawled against his chest, wiped out from his final bout of treatment. The same Scottish nurse from last time claimed the diagnosis looked good, and he should be all but promised to go into remission after his next round of tests. Then they’d worry about building him back up to a more healthy size and weight, the drugs clearly leaving him behind most his peers. Ben had pressed his lips to the top of his head through the paper face mask he had to wear to protect Freddie, and he had whined and rubbed his cheek against Ben’s wooly jumper.

The next time he brought Frankie along, and had a front row seat to her covering a group of small, giggling children with kisses and demanding belly rubs.

Freddie refused to unlatch from his neck when it was time for them both to leave, his big green eyes wet and his lower lip trembling. Ben croons that he'll come visit in the new year when he's not busy, trying to calm him, but nothing works, and a nurse has to come remove him from Ben's arms.

He and Gwil stay in London for the holiday thanks to Chelsea's Boxing Day match, and he spends the week wondering what it would be like to have a baby there, playing in the snow they get on the 23rd and how he would respond to a big family Christmas. It's a little absurd, Ben knows; he and Gwil have only been married since October, he should be reveling in being a newlywed over thinking about babies. He's just concerned for Freddie because he has no one, and no matter what way you look at it, that's a little bit heartbreaking.

That excuse disappears when he sees him with Gwil.

He had decided to visit when he was out with ankle problems a few weeks into the new year, and Gwil had asked to come along. He wanted to know what was taking up his husband's free time when he could be home with him, but Ben knew Gwil was also a sucker for kids and would gladly spend a day around a whole ward of them even without the excuse.

Freddie had handed a Gwil a picture book when Ben had sat him on his husband's knee with a simple 'this,' the only word Fred could say. Gwil wasn't above taking orders, and in only seconds his gentle voice filled the room, making Freddie giggle and smile as he changed his tone and put on different accents for different characters. Ben watches as he talks with Louise, who helps in the ward, about Freddie, his caseworker visit, and how he's gaining weight faster than they thought he would. The whole thing makes Ben's chest ache, knowing Freddie will be gone, probably by his next visit. 

Ben sits with them, holding Freddie's little hand as Gwil wraps up the end of the book. 

"We should visit more, I think," Gwil smiles at Ben, "He's sweet." 

Ben shrugs, “He’ll be gone soon, so I don't think it matters much. The other kids will like it though.”

“What?” Gwil tugs him close, his eyes wide.

“He’s gone into remission. They’re going to try to find a family for him now.”

“They haven’t yet?”

“No. They decided not to look until he was done with treatment. Better chances in finding someone to foster when they don't have the responsibility of infant leukemia and all that.”

Gwil looks down at Freddie, who smiles up at him from around his thumb.

“Ben…”

“I know,” Ben smiles, a lump building in his throat. 

"It's crazy," Gwil murmurs, looking down at the baby in his arms, "I never thought..." 

“I know, Gwil. Believe me. I've been thinking about it since I met him." 

"Isn't that what they say happens when it's right though?" 

Ben nods. 

Unlike Ben's other visits, they sit only with Freddie for the remaining time they're there, playing with the small collection of toys he owns, Ben taking a turn reading from a thick volume of Winnie the Pooh stories he has sitting on his window sill. He falls asleep in Gwil's arms when Ben's in the middle of Pooh realizing they're the wrong sort of bees for honey and they both kiss his head before gently placing him in the crib, tiptoeing out. 

The nurse hands over Freddie's caseworker's card with a wink before Ben can even ask, and he doesn't even make it out of the hospital before he's calling the number.


End file.
